This invention relates to an apparatus and method for turning a roll or coil which has a substantially vertically extending central opening.
It is often desirable to turn or rotate a heavy roll or coil of material so that the roll can be mounted for unwinding with the central opening of the roll extending horizontally. For example, machines which are used to form molded or formed plastic products utilize a roll of plastic sheet material. The plastic sheet is unwound from the roll and advanced through the machine. The roll is supported for unwinding by a spindle, mandrel, chuck or the like which extends into the central opening of the roll.
Although the roll is unwound when its central opening extends horizontally, the roll is usually shipped and stored with the central opening extending vertically so that the roll rests on one of its flat ends. Before the roll can be mounted on the device which unwinds the roll, the roll must be turned 90xc2x0. If the roll is too heavy to be turned manually, a mechanical turning device must be used.
Many mechanical turning devices have been proposed and are available commercially. Representative devices are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,016,158, 3,395,813, 4,067,451, 4,430,040, and 4,718,813. However, such turning devices are expensive.
The invention provides an inexpensive apparatus and method for turning heavy rolls or coils. The invention uses an inexpensive cart and a conventional forklift apparatus which usually already available for transporting the rolls inside the factory.
The cart includes a pair of perpendicular or orthogonal walls and rollers which are mounted on the cart adjacent the intersection between the walls. One or more rolls are lifted onto a horizontally extending wall of the cart by a forklift apparatus. The central opening of the roll extends vertically. One of the tines of the forklift apparatus is inserted under the horizontal wall and is raised until the other wall rotates into engagement with the other tine. The forklift is then lowered to allow the other wall to continue to rotate toward a horizontal position. When the other wall is horizontal, the central opening of the roll extends horizontally.